The Beauty of Simplicity
by Painted With a Palette
Summary: Scarred with envy and jealousy, Goro Akechi tries to figure out what Joker has that he doesn't during a casual trip down Mementos.


Goro Akechi.

It is a name that was never meant to exist. It is a name I've always thought to be synonymous with foul sentiments such as "disappointment" or rather, "accidental." I've thought it to be a shameful name. Nothing good has come from it. That was, until I was approached by Masayoshi Shido and gave me a newfound resolve for the applicability of my gifts. And then—this power. At last, the name Goro Akechi could mean something more than just an undesirable bastard child that was handled from foster home to foster home. Since then, I've done my best to bring honor to the name of an unwanted specimen whose conception only came to fruition through the course of an accident.

It felt good. I was finally able to be of use to someone—anyone. I cared not for the specifications entailing of my use, as long as I could prove my worth to society. Everything was going smoothly.

And then I met _him._

He strolled into the scene without a sliver of uncertainty with his motivation. A man fully capable of understanding himself and willfully bending the fate of his path. It's hard to grasp such an existence. Despite my augmented academic career and honorable reputation as an ace detective with fans sweeping the nation of Japan, I feel myself tinge with disgust at the prospect of _his_ teammates ogling him as the primary focus of their adoration. The public was quick to turn against me when I had a difference of opinion, and suddenly none of my achievements mattered. But he and his notorious history of a criminal record has always had loyal subordinates at his side willing to risk their lives for him. I often ask myself why. What does _he_ have that I don't?

"Hey, Crow? Are you broken? Croooooooow?"

I snap from my reverie and turn to my left to find the source of the voice. It's Wakaba Isshiki's daughter waving her hands in front of my presumably dead expression, although right now she's masquerading as Oracle—the Phantom Thieves' official navigator. Rather Futaba Sakura, but they asked that I remember the code names, so I will have to respect their wish for the time being.

"Hellooooo," she says, her eyes concealed beneath large black goggles with orange lenses. "Get with the program, Ace Detective!"

My contempt for their childish camaraderie aside, I've been assigned to act as their ally for the time being. It's only a ruse, of course, as I would never in my right mind think of participating in their naïve and false sense of justice. But for the sake of appearances, I pretend to care for her concern and give an apologetic chuckle. "Sorry, I've just been mulling over some specifications, that's all."

"You've seemed to be quite distracted," says Noir, the daughter of the late Kunikazu Okumura. How she's been holding up so well despite the recent death of a family member has me puzzled. I'm rather curious to know how she would react if she knew that the person responsible for her father's murder is sitting right next to her as she speaks. "I do hope everything is okay."

"I apologize for worrying you. I've just been thinking about strategies that I feel would work best for us whenever we decide to steal Sae-san's treasure," I lie coyly. "This infiltration, simply put, must succeed if we want to obtain information about the true culprit, after all."

She smiles, her face brightening with optimism. Perhaps for a slight moment, I feel something jolt in my heart, but I decide to ignore it. "Oh, please don't be alarmed. We usually come to Mementos to hone our abilities before truly infiltrating a palace. It's a necessary step in the process."

"Ah, yes, of course," I say with a fabricated smile of my own. "I trust Joker's instincts. He has more experience with this sort of thing than I do. But you can never be too prepared."

We drive down the dark and eerie tunnels of this grotesque place known as Mementos. To my surprise, this Morgana of theirs had the strange ability to transform into a car. Aside from the driver and passenger seat, there are two rows of seats. I'm situated in the very back alongside Noir and Oracle. In the very front, Ann Takamaki sits in the passenger seat next to Niijima-san's sister who has been driving us this whole time. In the row in front of us is Fox, the former apprentice of Madarame. Skull, a loudmouth among the many victims of abuse from the former gym teacher at Shujin, Kamoshida. And in the very middle is _him._

Akira Kurusu. What a fascinating human being.

With no one else looking, I squint at the back of his curly black hair and feel sick to my stomach. He leans back in his seat, carefree as can be, completely assure of himself. He doesn't speak very often, but when he does, he commands the attention of not only his peers, but everyone with the privilege of being within his presence despite him being nothing more than a juvenile delinquent. What is it about him that's so gravitating? What sort of intrinsic intangible does he possess?

"You don't have to worry too much about it, Crow," Mona, our current means of transportation, says despite the fact that I don't recall his car form manifesting any sort of mouth in which to speak through. I suppose asking questions at this point would be meaningless. "Joker knows what he's doing. He's pretty reliable—almost as much as I am."

Reliable...

"That, he is," I respond.

"So, you ever wonder what dinosaurs might've tasted like if they still existed?"

Everyone turns to Skull with looks that range from confusion, annoyance, and exhaustion at the oddness of such a question. "No, Skull. No we haven't," Queen answers tiredly while keeping her attention on the road.

"That's quite an interesting question to ask," I say with a chuckle.

"I'd say more like a stupid one," Panther says. "Why ask that now, of all times?"

"No reason," Skull answers before his pupils shrink with embarrassment as the loud grumble from his stomach echoes throughout the car. "N-No reason at all..."

"Your lying stat needs some serious level grinding," Oracle joked while mischievously pinching his cheek from behind him.

"Aw, shuddup! It ain't my fault!" Skull shouts, smacking her hand away.

Noir giggled while Panther only sighs, the latter seeming to be far too familiar with his transparency. "Seriously? How is it not? Why on earth didn't you eat anything before we met up?" Panther asks.

"Hey, I can't just eat anythin' if I ain't hungry," Skull argues back. He places a hand on Joker's shoulder. "Besides, this guy can whip us up some good ol' Leblanc curry once we get back, yeah?"

"It is rather delicious, I must say," I compliment.

"Exactly," Skull agrees. "I feel like I'll be ready to take on Makoto's sister in no time!"

"Code names," Queen reminds.

"And of course, Skull's first instinct is to leech off his friends," Mona says. "What a moron. But I guess I shouldn't expect much out of you, Skull."

"What was that?" Skull clenches his fist. "Can it, you stupid cat car thing!"

"How many times must I say it?" Mona asks, his irritation seeping into his tone. "I'm a human. Human! _Hu-man._ Hu—"

"Okay, okay! We heard you the first thousand times." Skull sighs, returning to the topic. "Can you blame me for bein' hungry, though? I just get so pumped about doin' our job as the Phantom Thieves that I—I kinda forget about things like food or studyin'. You know what I mean, don'tcha?" He bumps Joker on the shoulder. During my observation of their exchanges, I've noticed a few things. One being that Skull often asks his best friend for backup on his claims. Joker usually goes along with it if only to make him happy even if his own taste never fully aligns, with the occasional snarky remark. It seems he'll keep the tradition going this time as well and nods. "Right? It's like, it's just too damn excitin' that I lose my appetite!"

"Perhaps you should consider thinking ahead more carefully," Fox suggests, mindlessly sketching on his notepad while examining the odd black adhesive that paints walls of Mementos. "Your inability to think beyond the present is stifling."

"Dude," Skull says languidly. "You are the very last person I need gettin' life advice from. Why'd you bring that dumb notepad, anyway?"

"Dumb, you say?" Fox says exasperatingly. "Hmph. I suppose I shouldn't expect a simpleton to understand the beauty that lies within the spontaneity of inspiration that grips my innermost desire for creation and artistic integrity. It is a passion that is akin to Mementos. The deeper we travel comes a deeper understanding of the intricacies that envelop the contradictory nature that resides in our hearts." He chuckles to himself, now completely in his own world. "A fascinating spectacle, indeed."

He is quite the individual. The rest of us exchange looks that complement the questionable air now looming over the conversation. Skull breaks the silence. "The hell are you talkin' about, man?"

"Fox is rather unique, isn't he?" Noir says in hopes of encouraging him.

"That's one way of puttin' it," Skull murmurs.

"Besides, you're one to talk, Skull," Oracle says, entering the conversation. "You're the one who brought your homework with you." She pointed to the journal and math book Skull has successfully ignored for the majority of our trip. "Shouldn't you have finished that before we came to the cognitive world?"

"I only brought it cuz little Miss Student Council President told me to," he defends. "Ain't like I wanted to bring it."

"I'm simply fulfilling my role as student council president and making sure you stay on top of your studies," Queen says with a proud smile.

"Yeah, yeah..." Skull mumbles.

"It's your fault, anyway," she continues. "You promised to finish up your homework while we were prepping at Leblanc, yet you spent the majority of your time researching pointless things on your phone. Now, why is that?" She has a way of sounding stern whenever it comes to the more strict implications that come with focusing on one's studies. She certainly is Niijima-san's sister.

"Why you gotta single _me_ out?" Skull asks in a whiny tone. "Besides, I was stuck on this one problem. I didn't really understand it."

"Well, that's not an issue," says Queen. "You could've just asked me if you're struggling, you know. What are you having trouble with?"

"Now?"

"Now," she says groans but adheres to her request and reads one of the problems he wrote in his journal earlier. He scratches his hair with the bottom end of his pencil.

"So, the equation 24x to the power of 2 plus 25x minus 47 over ax minus 2 equals negative 8x minus 3 minus 53 over ax minus 2 is true for all values of x not equalin' to 2 over a, where a is constant. What's the value of a? Options are A. -16. B. -3. C. 3. And, D. 16." Skull looks as if he got a headache just from reading it.

"It's simple," Queen states. "Use the FOIL method. The fastest way is to get rid of the fraction by solving each side of the equation with ax minus 2, which should give you—" she runs the problem through her head for a moment. "—negative 8x minus 3. After that, you just multiply that portion with ax minus 2, which should give you something along the lines of... 24x plus 25x minus 47 equaling negative 8ax to the power of 2 minus 3ax plus 16x plus 6 minus 52. Then, reduce on the right side of the equation. The coefficients of x to the power of 2 must be equal on both sides of the equation, you see."

"Holy shit…" Skull says in response to her fairly commendable skills. The others seem impressed, but I expected nothing less from a Niijima. The problem itself wasn't too difficult with a simple process of elimination, but Skull isn't one that I would exactly call bright.

"You're so smart, Mako-chan!" Noir says cheerily. The fools. They're so easily dazzled. No wonder it's been this easy tricking them into believing that my cooperation is genuine. Like taking candy from an ignorant infantile.

"Yeah, it's kinda freaky," Panther agrees in low volume.

Queen chuckles modestly. "Well, it pays off to be diligent with your studies. I just hope I can set a good example."

"But, eh—I'm still not really gettin' it, if you know what I mean," Skull says, still scratching his head at the equation.

"Weren't you listening to anything I just said?" Queen asks. Skull gives a sheepish smile through the rearview mirror and she visibly gives up. "The answer is B."

"Oh, _now_ I get it!" Skull says as if he were just hit with realization, excitedly circling the answer. "Thanks, Prez! You're the best!"

Queen merely sighs, but she doesn't look very surprised.

Suddenly, Joker chuckles. "I'm going to miss this," he says, gaining everyone's attention. As I said before, it isn't like he speaks very often, so the few times he does, he commands the eyes of whoever is around. He doesn't talk, and yet, he seems to be full of substance. After digesting his words, however, a somber mood befell onto the remaining Phantom Thieves.

"Oh, that's right," Skull says. "You're gonna be goin' back home in a few months, huh?"

"That will surely be a depressing day to come." Fox puts his notepad and color pencils aside.

Queen closes her eyes. "I try not to think about it much."

"How are you gonna just up and leave after everything we've been through?" Oracle says. "How am I going to function in high school without my key item? I'll never forgive you!"

"But, really," Panther said. "You've helped us all so much. I don't know what I would've done about Shiho if you weren't around." I notice a faint blush on her cheeks, making him smile. I'm quite certain that those two are discreetly seeing one another, but I haven't brought it up. "It won't be the same once you're gone."

"Is it truly mandatory that you leave?" Noir asks. "We would really appreciate having you around more often. As long as it isn't a bother, of course."

"Yeah, man!" Skull wraps an arm around Joker's shoulder. "Who else am I gonna train with? Not like anybody's forcin' you to leave. I need you around to keep me goin'."

"Is that a marriage proposal?" Kurusu, for the lack of redundancy, asks jokingly.

Skull sighs. "You just _had_ to make it weird."

Joker grins, his confidence shining whenever in his element. "Cheer up, guys," he says. "I'm not going anywhere just yet. And no matter how far away I am, I'll always come back. As long as you keep me in your thoughts, just remember, we'll always be the Phantom Thieves."

His comrades look at their leader with intense admiration with undertones of gratitude. His reassurance and confidence seems to always give them the extra push that they need to keep fighting. Perhaps it's his leadership that has made them so willful in their justice. Unknown to my temporary teammates, I grip a fist. If only I didn't have to maintain this charade.

"You said it, padre!" Skull says with a determined-looking grin of his own.

Oracle shakes her head with a soft smile. "There he goes again, being all dependable and stuff."

"But isn't our leader reliable?" Noir asks rhetorically with a giggle.

"You're right," Panther says, being sure to keep a bittersweet smile. Her voice sounds like it's cracking, if only slightly, and I suspect that she's misty-eyed. I suppose the prospect of Joker's impending absence and the weight of my request of their disbandment is quite penetrating. "Just don't forget about us over there, okay?"

Joker shakes his head. "Never."

The respect that he commands. The acknowledgment. The mutual encouragement.

Damn it!

No, I must stay calm if I'm going to succeed. How else will I exact my revenge against my father if I don't ensure the success of my assigned task?

"All right, guys. I think we've had enough of the sap," Mona says, even though I'm sure that he secretly appreciates Joker's words himself. "I can sense our next target in this area. Hanae Oda."

"That rotten mother of that one kid that hangs in Akihabara, right?" Skull asks. "Let's do it."

"Let us beat that rubbish mentality into submission," says Fox.

"You don't gotta say that every time we do one of these, you know," Skull reprimands, although I'm sure it flies over Fox's head.

Mona parks in front of a large red and black sphere that seems to lead to this target they've gotten from the Aficionado website. Everyone steps out of the vehicle and Mona transforms back into his standard form. We prep ourselves for combat, getting our weapons and items ready. I can't seem to keep myself from stealing glances at Joker. Never have I been so fascinated by someone so loathsome before.

"All right, team. Let's move out!" Mona says.

"Uh, pardon," I say, catching their attention. I place a hand on Joker's shoulder. "If you all don't mind, I'd like to go over one of those strategies I mentioned earlier with Joker in private. I hope that's not bothersome?"

Unsurprisingly, Skull is the first to come to Joker's aid and leans against his leader's shoulder. "Just spill it. Anything you can say in front of him, you can say in front of us," he says with smugness. The rest of their pack seems to agree.

Joker looks at me for a moment before turning to his friends and puts a reassuring hand up. "I can handle it."

Skull looks taken aback. "For real?" Joker nods, despite Skull's disappointment. "Okay, man. If you say so."

The others stand near the giant black and red beam. Joker is a perceptive one. He must've realized I wanted to speak with him alone. Once they're out of earshot, he turns to me with his usual cool and composed exterior and places his hands in the pockets of his black trench coat.

"Ah, I'm glad to have an opportunity to speak with you alone. I promise it'll be brief," I say, putting on my cordial front. "To be honest, I don't want to go over any battle strategy. But your comments on our way here caught my interest. So, I gather that you'll be leaving early next year?"

Joker nods.

"I must admit, it will be oddly lonesome when you're not around," I continue. "Your outlook on life has always been one to intrigue me. It makes me wonder how you acquired such a unique perspective."

"It's mostly to impress the ladies," he jokes.

I pretend to chuckle at his pathetic attempt at humor. "Yes, I can understand the sentiment behind that. But I will say that your command over the Phantom Thieves truly is something to be admired. They have the utmost respect for your guidance. Your justice." I feel my eyebrows furrow slightly. "It makes me wonder what motivates your sense of justice."

He seems slightly confused by my question, so I decide to elaborate further.

I place a hand to my chin. "Despite the rallies of nonbelievers, those that oppose your ideologies, myself included, and the sudden shift in the support from the public, you remain unwavering. Most would be at a loss and understandably resentful, yet here we are taking up requests on an internet forum at your request helping the very same people whose turned their back on you without a second thought. Even taking precedence over stealing Sae-san's heart on a basis of mending the reputation of the Phantom Thieves." I chuckle. "It's just rather surprising, is all."

Joker doesn't utter a word for a moment. His face isn't always the easiest to read, borderline being a blank canvas. It's as if he's looking for the least amount of words as possible. But at last, he acknowledges my question with a single sentence. "It's just the right thing to do."

How disappointingly simple. Is that all that drives his ambitions? For the past several months, he's been treated like an unwelcome nuisance due to his prior status as the resident Shujin delinquent with a criminal record, but _he_ is the one granted with unconditional loyalty. Yet my reign as an honor student and detective prince got shafted at the scorn of poor word choice and I'm left with not a single person in my corner. Perhaps that's the difference between us. Or is it something else? No matter what happens, he continues looking forward and never back. His position is never swayed, despite the odds. Is this the respect that his teammates see in him?

I look into his eyes and take notice of the fortitude resting behind his confidence.

I suppose I can't blame them.

"I see," is all that I can say in response. "That's all that's needed for you to stay strong with your convictions. It's quite interesting." I chuckle bitterly. I place a hand on his shoulder. "I can see why your teammates acknowledge you. I think they see the same thing that I see. You truly are something special."

Joker nods. "I appreciate it."

"Likewise," I return. "But if you'll heed my advice, don't take their acknowledgment for granted. You're very fortunate to have such loyalty that remains adamantly resolved at your side." I sigh. "Yes, very fortunate."

Through my peripheral, I notice Joker looking at me with slight confusion. I shouldn't underestimate his perception. I quickly sober myself and give my best attempt at convincing a smile.

"Don't mind me," I say, waving it off. "We'd best not waste any more time and regroup with the others. We have matters to tend to. Shall we?"

Joker complies and walks alongside me as we approach the rest of our circle that is a few short meters away awaiting for our return. Upon noticing our, or rather _his_ return, they smile and put on faces of their own determination, despite him not having even said a word yet. His mere presence inspires their own rallies for justice. He does so much and asks for so little. The simplicity in his complexity commands their reverence. I think I understand now.

Thank you, Joker.

It will be a bittersweet, but pleasurable experience when I finally have the chance to kill you.

* * *

Hello Persona fans ^_^

Tbh, idk if anyone is going to read this but it's a short little thing I wrote spontaneously. This is more of a test oneshot actually and it's the first time I've written anything Persona-related. I'm actually planning on writing a full-blown fic with Persona characters with both the P4 and P5 cast (maybe P3, but that might be too much) and this is just a practice thing I wrote trying to see if I could write their personalities. I studied all of their personalities and the way they talked tried my best to make it as accurate and faithful to the game as I could with the short amount of time I had with what I had. So if it seems rushed or not very polished in any way, that's why.

At first I wrote this in third-person but decided to make it more about the psyche of Goro Akechi instead and the foreshadowing jealousy he has towards the protagonist. Also, this is my interpretation of the protagonist lol I didn't get to show off my characterization of him too much, but I see him as someone who doesn't speak often (since they do mention in the game that he doesn't talk much), but when he does talk he's kinda intelligent and a little sassy. At least, as Joker. As regular Akira, I see him as a LITTLE dorkier, but in a cute way lol whereas when he's Joker he's a bit more confident and stuff.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Like I said, this is mostly a practice writing session that I decided to share and if anybody has tips on writing the P5 crew or any helpful suggestions or critiques on how I portrayed anybody, please let me know! Any constructive criticism at all would be nice. Anything at all. I would really appreciate it!

kthxbai

 **#bananasquad**


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